My Blog

Our own "Little Shop of Horrors"

04/25/2012 17:37:00

All of you are used to hearing from Bethany, but I highjacked this blog today so that I can tell you of a new side of the Flower Peddler. I am excited to tell all of you about it. For a few years now, I have been studying and collecting various carnivorous plants: pitcher plants (Saracenia), Sundews (Drosera), butterworts (Pinguicula) , hanging pitcher plants (Nepenthes) and of course, the venus flytrap. Recently I have been propagating the different types of plants listed above and have been quite pleased with the outcome. I have taken several leaf cuttings and root cuttings according to the invaluable book "Savage Garden" written by Peter D'Amato. This is a book that I highly recommend if you want to get started with reproducing carnivorous bog plants. Don't be afraid of these plants as the "carnivorous" part of their name just means that they help keep insects at bay. We love putting them out on our back deck in the summer time as they reflect so many more different things that nature has to offer. They come in all shapes, sizes, designs to really make it all interesting. They are a great way for children to also learn about nature as these are grown in containers and very easy to maintain. Please keep checking our online catalog as we will be adding to our stock every chance we get.

What do you do when you have Old Man Winter on your hands?

01/26/2012 17:38:00

You make terrariums!!! See my pics of my first attempt at making these mini plant worlds. Let me know what you think. I would love to start doing dish gardens and terrariums on a larger scale- as in bigger dishes, containers, etc. This was so much fun!

Finally, the finishing touch...

01/21/2012 14:03:00

Well, it was a long in coming, but the finishing touch for our winter pots is here: SNOW. Dan just mentioned how the pots we did this year look extra beautiful with the snow that fell overnight. We hope you enjoy the pictures- even though they were taken in the rain!

In anticipation of Spring...

01/07/2012 14:23:00

I know it seems too early, but it will be here before we know it. We are preparing for a great coming season! Look for what we will be carrying shortly. We are making our lists and checking them twice to make sure we don't leave anything out. At the Flower Peddler we strive to meet your local flower needs. We know that we may never meet the needs for exotic flowers, BUT we always have a little something for everyone. This year we will be carrying a selection of carnivorus plants that work out well for bouquets and very rustic-themed centerpieces. We are working on purchasing Amaryllis bulbs so we can offer them to you for fresh Winter bouquets. And in between all of that, we are planning on having a great cutting season this spring and summer. Starting with fresh cut Narcissus, Iris, & Eremurus in early spring, we will carry Zinnia, Ageratum, Sunflowers (of course!), Celosia, just to name a few, throughout the summer months into fall. Remember: You can't go wrong with purchasing from your local businesses!

Winter Pots

12/14/2011 13:09:00

Winter pots are useful as great color for the dreary days of January & February. I used red-twig, dried miscanthus flowers, red & orange winterberry, inkberry greens, leyland cypress greens, Dr. Kassab holly, japanese holly. I stuck all of these branches in the soil in the pot. Once that was done, I settled pots of winter kale in amongst the branches for a splash of color. In some pots I added lamb's ear for a silvery effect. In the main pot, I actually planted a clump birch tree and limbed it up so the papery bark could be seen as "winter interest". Then I added evergreen & deciduous branches all around. Take a peek at the pictures I took. Let me know what you think. Happy Holidays!!

The winter color just keeps coming...

11/27/2011 17:35:00

We are cutting some BEAUTIFUL winterberry! Such vibrant reds & orangey yellow. We have a very nice offering this year of leyland cypress greens, American holly, dark geen ivy, winterberry, dried flowers, inkberry (great substitute for the boxwood). Call us!!!

Plant Bulbs in Winter...

11/27/2011 17:31:00

and that's what we did! Dan & I just planted 2,000 bulbs for spring time bouquets! This is the time of year that you want to plant bulbs so that they will bloom for a beautiful spring display. We had to dig them up first from where we planted them last year and we prepared a proper permanent resting place for them. We planted beautiful double white & bicolored old fashioned-type narcissus (daffodil), the electric colored Eremurus (fox tail lily), Iris, & Allium. They are all snug for winter! Can't wait to put these on the weekly availability again...

What I am thankful for...

11/25/2011 10:48:00

I wanted to take a moment and thank all of my customers who supported The Flower Peddler this year. We had a really great year, despite weather setbacks, because of you. We are a true local, small business and without the support of our local florists and farm markets we wouldn't be here today. Thank you for believing in our business and the quality that we can provide to you. To me, the service that we provide you isn't just a job, it is a true labor of love and all of you provide me a way to do something that I love. I can truly say that "I LOVE MY 'JOB' ". Again, a heartfelt "THANK YOU". I look forward to many years of providing you with a quality of service that would make you proud to do business with me.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

11/15/2011 18:36:00

and pretty soon those of us in this industry will be scurrying about to make everyone's Christmas Season brighter. I love this time of year as I get to work with some pretty amazing plants. Red twig dogwood, winterberry holly, yellow twig dogwood, to name a few. I sell the winterberry in bunches which are great to just "plop" in a vase to make an instant seasonal arrangement. In the next couple of weeks I will be making some very beautiful fresh cut centerpieces and outdoor decorative winter containers. The winter containers are the equivilant to containers we do with summer blooming annuals. These containers are not just something that is for the Christmas holiday display. They can be left out all winter and they brighten up any dreary area- because we all know that getting the winter blues is easy at this time of year. Anything that is showy for most of the winter will make a good container garden display, ie: winterberry, red & yellowtwig dogwood, variegated euonymus, variegated ivy, leucothoe, nandina, cypress, juniper, and the list goes on and on. I am going to try my hand at adding spring flowering bulbs as a way to extend the display into 2.5 seasons (half of fall, all of winter, and spring) I will add some pictures once I have them done. I wish all of you a very safe and happy holiday season and thank you all for your continuing support of my endeavors.

Sunflowers are shedding light this week...

07/04/2011 15:54:00

This marks the first week of full-on

harvest of our sunflowers. Sunflowers are our specialty and what I first started out growing. I started growing them several years ago and you know what they say: "the rest is history". We started out growing yellow sunflowers, but I knew there were so many different types and colors out there. I then added a double brown-orange type call "the Joker" and the always popular chocolate variety, 'Moulin Rouge' and just kept adding to the list of different sunflowers we grow. This year we grew 8 different types of sunflowers and if there isn't one that everyone will like out in the fields, I will be surprised. For the first week, we have available ' Ruby Eclipse' & 'Moulin Rouge'. The 'Ruby Eclipse' is a very pretty, rich-looking cherry-wine and golden vanilla bicolor (so, so pretty!). Call us up for a bunch and I know you will be pleasantly surprised.